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Economics and Finance

MPhil/PhD

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Key information

Key information for 2026-27

Start date:
October 2026 | January 2027 | April 2027
Study route:

  • Four years full-time, online

  • Seven years part-time, on campus

  • Four years full-time, on campus

  • Seven years part-time, online

Status:
Fully approved
Location:
Birkbeck Campus, Central London
Awarding body:
University of London
Study options:
Full-time | Part-time | On campus | Online

Key information for 2027-28

Start date:
October 2027 | January 2028 | April 2028
Study route:

  • Seven years part-time, online

  • Four years full-time, online

  • Four years full-time, on campus

  • Seven years part-time, on campus

Status:
Fully approved
Location:
Birkbeck Campus, Central London
Awarding body:
University of London
Study options:
Full-time | Part-time | On campus | Online

Course Overview

The MPhil/PhD in Economics and Finance will train you to conduct research of a high academic standard and to make original contributions to the subject. The degree involves both coursework and research training, but its major component is the preparation of a substantial research thesis. The thesis should demonstrate a sound understanding of the main issues in the area and add to existing knowledge.

An MPhil/PhD is an advanced postgraduate research degree that requires the submission of a substantial dissertation of 60,000 to 100,000 words. At Birkbeck, you are initially registered on an MPhil and you upgrade to a PhD after satisfactory progress in the first year or two. You need to find a suitable academic supervisor at Birkbeck, who can offer the requisite expertise to guide and support you through your research. Find out more about undertaking a research degree at Birkbeck.

Economics and finance at Birkbeck has acquired an excellent reputation, not only for the quality of its research but also for the quality of its training. The Treasury, the Bank of England and many other employers hire us to train their staff. We take students who are determined to succeed and are prepared to undergo the rigours of first-class training, whether they are studying full-time or part-time.

Attendance

Regular meetings with your supervisor(s).

More Highlights

Entry Requirements

The entry requirement for this MPhil/PhD Economics and Finance is an MSc in economics/finance or a related quantitative subject, with Distinction or a good pass.

Applicants should also submit a research proposal which is in line with the research interests of our academic staff in this area.

Qualities such as good time management and the ability to cope under pressure are vital.

A strong background in quantitative methods is required.

  • What are the English language requirements?

    If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, our usual requirement is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 6.5, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests.

    If you don't meet the minimum English language requirements, please contact us or see our international study skills page for more details about how we can help.

    Visit the International section of our website to find out more about our English language entry requirements and relevant requirements by country.

  • What are the visa and funding requirements?

    If you are not from the UK and you do not already have residency here, you may need to apply for a visa.

    The visa you apply for varies according to the length of your course:

    • Courses of more than six months' duration: Student visa
    • Courses of less than six months' duration: Standard Visitor visa

    International students who require a Student visa should apply to study on our courses full-time as these qualify for Student visa sponsorship. If you are living in the UK on a Student visa, you will not be eligible to enrol to study part-time courses at Birkbeck (with the exception of some modules).

    As a Student visa student, you should also apply to study on campus only, as online and flexible options of study  (if they are available for your course) may affect the conditions of your visa.

    For full information, read our visa information for international students page.

    Please also visit the international section of our website to find out more about relevant visa and funding requirements by country.

    Please note students receiving US Federal Aid are only able to apply for in-person, on-campus programmes which will have no elements of online study.

Birkbeck Business School

The school is research-driven across a wide range of disciplinary themes with academic staff who create new knowledge, push boundaries and publish in leading academic journals.

Visit the school

Fees

MPhil/PhD: Four years full-time or seven years part-time, online, starting in October 2026

Academic year 2026-27

Part-time home students: £2,780 per year
Full-time home students: £5,238 per year
Part-time international students: £8,230 per year
Full-time international students: £16,285 per year

MPhil/PhD: Four years full-time or seven years part-time, on campus, starting in October 2026

Academic year 2026-27

Part-time home students: £2,780 per year
Full-time home students: £5,238 per year
Part-time international students: £8,230 per year
Full-time international students: £16,285 per year

MPhil/PhD: Four years full-time or seven years part-time, online, starting in January 2027

Academic year 2026-27

Part-time home students: £2,780 per year
Full-time home students: £5,238 per year
Part-time international students: £8,230 per year
Full-time international students: £16,285 per year

MPhil/PhD: Four years full-time or seven years part-time, on campus, starting in January 2027

Academic year 2026-27

Part-time home students: £2,780 per year
Full-time home students: £5,238 per year
Part-time international students: £8,230 per year
Full-time international students: £16,285 per year

MPhil/PhD: Four years full-time or seven years part-time, online, starting in April 2027

Academic year 2026-27

Part-time home students: £2,780 per year
Full-time home students: £5,238 per year
Part-time international students: £8,230 per year
Full-time international students: £16,285 per year

MPhil/PhD: Four years full-time or seven years part-time, on campus, starting in April 2027

Academic year 2026-27

Part-time home students: £2,780 per year
Full-time home students: £5,238 per year
Part-time international students: £8,230 per year
Full-time international students: £16,285 per year

MPhil/PhD: Four years full-time or seven years part-time, online, starting in October 2027

Academic year 2027-28

To be confirmed

MPhil/PhD: Four years full-time or seven years part-time, on campus, starting in October 2027

Academic year 2027-28

To be confirmed

MPhil/PhD: Four years full-time or seven years part-time, online, starting in January 2028

Academic year 2027-28

To be confirmed

MPhil/PhD: Four years full-time or seven years part-time, on campus, starting in January 2028

Academic year 2027-28

To be confirmed

MPhil/PhD: Four years full-time or seven years part-time, online, starting in April 2028

Academic year 2027-28

To be confirmed

MPhil/PhD: Four years full-time or seven years part-time, on campus, starting in April 2028

Academic year 2027-28

To be confirmed

Students are charged a tuition fee in each year of their course. Tuition fees for students continuing on their course in following years may be subject to annual inflationary increases. For more information, please see the College Fees Policy.

Lifelong Learning Guarantee

If you’ve studied at Birkbeck before and successfully completed an award with us, take advantage of our Lifelong Learning Guarantee to gain a discount on the tuition fee of this course.

Fees and finance

PhD students resident in England can apply for government loans of over £30,000 to cover the cost of tuition fees, maintenance and other study-related costs.

Flexible finance: pay your fees in monthly instalments at no extra cost. Enrol early to spread your costs and reduce your monthly payments.

We offer a range of studentships and funding options to support your research.

Discover the financial support available to you to help with your studies at Birkbeck.

Do you offer international scholarships?

We provide a range of scholarships for eligible international students, including our Global Future Scholarship. Discover if you are eligible for a scholarship.

Birkbeck's campus is located in the historic and vibrant Bloomsbury area of central London - named one of the best places to live in London 2025 by The Times.

Our Research Culture

New full-time MPhil/PhD students are required to attend a series of lectures and research workshops, covering topics that are at the cutting edge of recent developments in economic theory and methodology. You also select option classes from the MSc Economics, MSc Financial Economics or MSc Finance at Birkbeck. After completing coursework, you proceed to write a PhD dissertation.

Coursework is not normally compulsory for part-time MPhil/PhD students. However, if deficiencies in previous training are identified, you may be required to undertake suitable coursework.

Read more about our vibrant research culture.

Finding a Supervisor

When applying for a PhD, aligning your intellectual and research interests with those of potential supervisors is crucial for the productive and successful start of a research career. Supervisors are your primary academic contact in the School and provide guidance on how to define, develop, execute and present your research. Often, they also assist in your professional placement upon completion of the PhD.

Every postgraduate research student must have a primary and a secondary supervisor. These need not be in the same subfield of Economics or Finance.

We encourage you to actively engage in finding the right match for your primary supervisor and we are committed to finding a suitable secondary supervisor. The following can help you to explore the research expertise of our members of academic staff and identify those who may be available to supervise your PhD project:

  • Academic staff by broad research area
    • Microeconomic theory: Arup Daripa, Ken Hori, David Schröder, Emanuela Sciubba
    • Applied microeconomics: Camille Boudot-Reddy, Arup Daripa, Emanuela Sciubba, Tinghua Yu, Sandeep Kapur
    • Macroeconomic theory: Yunus Aksoy, Pedro Gomes, Gylfi Zoega
    • Applied macroeconomics: Yunus Aksoy, Pedro Gomes, Zacharias Psaradakis, Andy Ross, Ron Smith, Stephen Wright
    • Competition, regulation and public policy: Alistair Ball, Walter Beckert, Arup Daripa, Dan Kaliski, Sandeep Kapur, Andy Ross, Tinghua Yu
    • Health economics: Alistair Ball, Walter Beckert, Camille Boudot-Reddy, Dan Kaliski
    • Political economy: Camille Boudot-Reddy, Ron Smith, Tinghua Yu
    • Development economics: Camille Boudot-Reddy
    • Labour economics: Alastair Ball, Pedro Gomes, Gylfi Zoega
    • Econometrics: Walter Beckert, José Camarena-Brenes, Dan Kaliski, Zacharias Psaradakis
    • Finance: Ken Hori, Simon Hubbert, Emmanuel Mamatzakis, Ilaria Peri, David Schröder, Emanuela Sciubba, Ellen Pei-yi Yu
    • Quantitative finance: Ken Hori, Simon Hubbert, Ilaria Peri

  • Academic staff and their key areas of interest and expertise
    • Yunus Aksoy: theoretical and empirical macroeconomics; monetary economics; macroeconomics of ageing populations.
    • Alastair Ball: health economics; labour economics.
    • Walter Beckert: theoretical and applied econometrics; empirical industrial organisation; financial markets regulation; health economics.
    • Camille Boudot-Reddy: economic development; political economy; applied microeconomics; structural change.
    • José Camarena-Brenes: theoretical and applied statistics.
    • Arup Daripa: mechanism design; auctions; financial markets; banking.
    • Pedro Gomes: macroeconomics of fiscal policy; macroeconomics of labour markets; public sector employment; education and human capital; macroeconomics and finance; sovereign ratings; organisation of working time.
    • Ken Hori: search theory; banking; pension reform.
    • Simon Hubbert: approximation theory; optimisation and mathematical finance.
    • Dan Kaliski: health economics; causal inference.
    • Sandeep Kapur: economics of innovation; economic and financial regulation; economic theory; emerging economies.
    • Emmanuel Mamatzakis: banking; finance; international macroeconomics; applied accounting; applied econometrics; public finance.
    • Ilaria Peri: risk measures theory; performance measures theory; risk management and portfolio management applications.
    • Zacharias Psaradakis: time-series econometrics; non-linear dynamic models; resampling-based statistical inference.
    • Andy Ross (visiting professor): professional practitioner.
    • David Schröder: empirical asset pricing; investor sentiment; decision making under uncertainty.
    • Emanuela Sciubba: economic theory and theory of financial markets; social networks; behavioural and experimental economics.
    • Ron Smith: (emeritus professor) applied econometrics; defence economics; political economy.
    • Stephen Wright: theoretical and applied macroeconomics; monetary economics.
    • Ellen Pei-yi Yu: environmental finance; sustainable finance.
    • Tinghua Yu: political economy of institutions and development; political selection; intrinsic motivation; authoritarian politics; development economics.
    • Gylfi Zoega: macroeconomics; labour economics; econometrics.

How to Apply

Follow these steps to apply to an MPhil/PhD research degree at Birkbeck:

  1. Check that you meet the entry requirements, including English language requirements, as described on this page.
  2. Find a potential supervisor for your MPhil/PhD research. Check the ‘Find a Supervisor’ area on this page or search our staff directory.
  3. Contact the academic member of staff - or the school they teach in - for an informal discussion about your research interests and to establish  if they are willing and able to supervise your research. (Please note: finding a potential supervisor does not guarantee admission to the research degree, as this decision is made using your whole application.) Find out more about the supervisory relationship and how your supervisor will support your research.
  4. Draft a research proposal. This needs to demonstrate your knowledge of the field, the specific research questions you wish to pursue, and how your ideas will lead to the creation of new knowledge and understanding.
  5. Apply directly to Birkbeck, using the 'Apply Now' link on this page. All research students are initially registered on an MPhil and then upgrade to a PhD after making sufficient progress.

Find out more about the application process, writing a research proposal and the timeframe.

What are the application deadlines?

You can apply at any time for study starting in January, April or October. We need to receive your supporting documents (i.e. your transcript, two academic references and research proposal) before we can proceed with your application.

If you wish to apply for funding, you will need to apply by certain deadlines. Consult the websites of relevant bodies for details.

Related courses

Study routes for Economics and Finance (MPhil/PhD)

Please select a study route below to continue your application.

Please note that international students who require a Student visa to study in the UK can only apply for full-time, on campus routes.

Starting in October 2026

Full-time

Part-time

Starting in January 2027

Full-time

Part-time

Starting in April 2027

Full-time

Part-time

Starting in October 2027

Full-time

Part-time

Starting in January 2028

Full-time

Part-time

Starting in April 2028

Full-time

Part-time